News

“Being Black is trying to explain your pain but it turns into rage because no-one listens.”*

5 Jun 2020

7 minutes

Mammy Maguire shares why Black Lives Matter

Family sat around a table — Mammy Maguire and her family

* A quote by Kofi Kufuor (my younger brother).

I’m Mammy Afua Afriyie Maguire (nee Kufuor), and I’m a proud first-generation British Ghanaian, or as I like to say a Manc Ghanaian. I’m the Head of Social Media at Manchester Metropolitan University. I wanted to share with you a very personal article that I have written to my colleagues at the University. I hope it helps you as well:

I’m here to talk about why the last couple of weeks have been particularly tough on me personally. I’m not writing as representative of all Black people. This is just me - a Black woman, a Black daughter, a Black sister, a Black mother, a Black wife, a Black friend - sharing my thoughts and feelings with you.

To say it’s been a tough few weeks… months for all of us is probably the understatement of the year. We’ve all had to change the way that we work and watched as work and home lives have blurred and merged. I have nearly four-year-old twin girls - and both myself and my husband have been WFH fulltime - it’s been challenging to say the least.

I don’t need go into the minute detail about the reasons behind why this week has been hard personally for me, if you haven’t been watching the news or looking online, then please do! The quote below from Danielle Cadet’s piece called Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They’re Okay — Chances Are They’re Not really sums it up for me. I really urge you to read the full piece. It may make some of you feel uncomfortable but for change to happen, you might have to push yourself out of your comfort zone and face into some uncomfortable thoughts, feelings and conversations.

“Over the last few months, Black people have not only watched their friends and family members die at higher rates from the coronavirus, they have also watched people who look like them be gunned down while going for a jog, be murdered in their homes, threatened while bird watching in Central Park, and mercilessly choked on camera.”

This is the reason:

Why, I woke on Monday with puffy eyes, a dry throat and feeling like I was coming down with the flu.
Why, I couldn’t turn my video on for Skype calls due to fear of crying if anyone asked me if I had a good weekend.
Why, I sat at my desk (kitchen table) and cried while feeding my girls lunch and had to be comforted by my family.
Why, I wrote on my social media channels that ‘I was tired, and so very angry.’
Why, my Black friend and Black people across the world took Monday off because they couldn’t paint smiles on their faces and pretend that everything was okay.
Why, there are protests across America and across the UK.
Why, I am angry that we still need to protest to have our voices heard and our rights met. My parents protested for Black rights in the 70s, 80s and 90s and yet here we are in 2020, the next generation, and still protesting about the same thing.
Why, I’m going to stop now as I could write pages and pages but hopefully this has given you a flavor.

If you have a Black colleague or direct report please reach out to them, check they’re okay. But first read Adunola Adeshola’s piece for Forbes Woman “3 Things You Should Not Say To Your Black Colleagues Right Now”.

Why not drop them a message to check-in – I received a lovely one from my very good friend Hana, it’s not appropriate for work colleagues but meant a lot to me.

“I have sent you a message to check-in during this time, not because I don’t love you 100% or stand by you and Black community, but, because now more than ever I thought you’d be overwhelmed with messages & calls & all manners of comms from family & friends.

“It may have been too much or too little. I haven’t asked. I wanted to give you space and an emotional boundary.

“I’m here, always have been and always will be… vehemently!”

So, what can you do?

Recognise your privilege especially white privilege if this applies to you – having privilege isn’t a bad thing, but it must be understood to change things.
Educate yourself, I’ve listed out some personal recommendations below. There are so many resources to educate yourself this subject. Refer to the Black Lives Matter: educational resources.
Converse with me and each other, this isn’t about me telling you how to behave, or that my view is the right one. It’s about me expressing my feelings and I would love to have conversations about this. Speak to your Black friends and colleagues.
Support your Black colleagues and friends through these unsettling times. Either through educating yourself, take small or big action or just being aware that there is a civil rights moment happening right now. stand with us, not against us.
Have empathy, the impact of what’s happened and is happening has had a massive impact. You may not 100% understand why events that happened in America have triggered the UK Black community so much, but please empathise that our feelings are real and valid.

So, onto my recommendations, this isn’t an exhaustive list and I am not the oracle of all things Black, but hopefully it’s a good starting place.

Meda wo ase (that’s thank you in Twi, my motherland tongue) for taking time to read my thoughts.”

Mammy Afua Afriyie Maguire

#BlackLivesMatter